Aidan Radnedge reports on how students and teachers are struggling to cope with further exam changes following a shake-up of the A-level system.

NO sooner had 16 and 17-year-old students finished this summer's exams than they were beginning to worry about next year's.

The Government's overhaul of the A-level system means pupils now face gruelling exam periods three years running.

Teachers have complained that timetables cannot cope with the demands of expanded curricula.

And pupils believe they are being worn down by the relentless onslaught of testing.

The new system, Curriculum 2000, was introduced by the Government in September 2000.

Before, most pupils studied three A-level subjects over two years.

But now, after sitting their GCSE exams, students choose four or five subjects for their first year in the sixth form.

At the end of that year they sit AS-level exams in all subjects, before choosing three to continue with for their A2 exams 12 months later.

The changes were made to give students a broader, more flexible range of subjects in the sixth form.

But Paul Thomas, head of economics and politics at Brighton College, labelled the new system "educational vandalism".

He and colleagues have struggled to cram a whole curriculum into less than a year of teaching.

Students feel they are missing out on time to explore subjects and enjoy life outside the classroom.

Brighton College students felt they would crack up when their AS exams were crammed into a week in May.

Danielle Epstein, 17, said: "The AS exams just don't give you enough time to prepare."

Miya Allen, 17, said: "I'm normally quite calm in exams because I feel well-prepared. But for the AS exams, for the first time, I panicked.

"I seriously thought about organising a nation-wide boycott of AS-level exams."

Alenka Abraham, 17, said: "There's not enough time for learning from September to January when the exam preparation really begins. Universities are looking for well-rounded people but you just don't have the chance. You're working all the time and you're exhausted."

Alenka took up economics last September but is dropping it after feeling she has been unable to study it enough.

The A2 qualifications are still seen as the gold standard, counting towards university places.

Richard Gilbert, 16, said: "The AS is just a hiccup on the way to A2s."

He criticised the inconsistency of exam boards responsible for setting the curricula.

He said: "In geography, we had to wait three weeks for a new syllabus when they made changes."

Staff at Brighton College tried to ensure pupils were not taking too many exams on the same day.

Philip Robinson, director of studies at the college in Eastern Road, Brighton, feels the pupils' complaints of overload are justified.

He said: "Originally, the Government talked about AS-levels being 40 per cent of the overall curriculum. Instead they are 50 per cent.

"It's been stressful for staff but I think we've coped well."

Students like Miya were pleased to take more "enjoyable" subjects such as art, which they would not have chosen as one of just three A-level subjects.

But Layla Amir, 17, said: "The system makes decisions for you."

Failed exams can be taken the following January. But that would then eat into preparations for the A2 exams in the summer.

Kate Nicholls, 18, has just completed her A-levels and described the AS system as "a mixed blessing".

She said: "To take GCSEs, then AS then A-levels has been very gruelling. But I wouldn't have preferred the old system of just A-levels.

"I liked having the extra breadth. The system's plodding slowly in the right direction."

Dick Boland, regional secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "We've long favoured a broader sixth form curriculum but I'm afraid the implementation has been chaotic.

"Many schools don't have enough curriculum time and have had to resort to twilight classes. And students are finding complete overload both in terms of study and examinations."

Education watchdog the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority reported last December that the new AS-level curriculum was rushed in without proper planning.

The Department for Education and Skills admitted Curriculum 2000 had had "a difficult introduction" and changes were being made.

A DFES spokesman said: "The Government believes examinations are an important way of recognising achievement. Equally, ministers are concerned that students should not feel overburdened."

He added that Education Secretary Estelle Morris had asked the QCA to carry out a full-scale review of the reforms in summer 2003.